MEChA de Penn: an Introduction

In 1971, the University of Pennsylvania began its first real recruitment of Mexican-American students by bringing in a group of freshman from South Texas. Following the 1969 founding of MEChA at the University of California at Santa Barbara, MEChA was formed by that first small group of students in an effort to help Chicanas and Chicanos adjust to life at Penn.

El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, became an organization that could support the exploration of Chicano culture, work to recruit Chicano students to Penn, and also work with the Penn community to build dialogue across campus and build a social conciousness within the Latino community.

MEChA's primary activities revolve around cultural exploration, not only around Chicano/Mexican-American culture, but Latina/o culture, Meso-American culture, history and dialogue on issues varying from race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality and many other areas. We continue working on campus to build dialogue and partnership throughout Penn's campus.

MEChA seeks diverse membership and new ideas of exploration. Feel free to stop by La Casa and find out more about MEChA de Penn.

MEChA at Penn: A Brief History

MEChA de Penn was a founding member of the Latino Coalition in 1994, umbrella organization for Penn’s Latino student groups.

MEChA is a co-founder of La Casa Latina, Penn's Center for Hispanic Excellence, where MEChA meets and resides today. MEChA de Penn was a co-founder of the Greenfield Intercultural Center in 1984 with ACELA, Chinese Student Association, Black Student League and the United Minorities Council.

MEChA de Penn has been a member of MEChA region Este Aztlan and the East Coast Chicano Student Forum, regional forums for Chicano student organizations since formation in 1972.

In the City of Philadelphia, MEChA works with community organizations such as Mexicanos Juntos, a community organization which teaches ESL to Mexican and other Latin American migrants in the city. MEChA also works with Taller Puertoriqueno, Congreso Latino and the Balch Institute to build relationships for mentorship and community service in the city.

Our goal is to not only work to create a rich environment in University City, but to connect students to the community and city at large to benefit the entirety of the City of Philadelphia and it's community members.